Things Past and Present
by macgirl6
Summary: An old enemy of Deeks' resurfaces. A convicted felon Deeks had put away finds a girl very important to Deeks and takes her hostage and tortures her for revenge. The team rallies around Deeks to rescue the girl. Kensi/Deeks in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own any of the NCIS: Los Angeles characters.**

"Face it G, I'm champion of the world." Sam said with a smile. "You got no came, and that's cool." Kensi and Deeks looked up as Sam and Callen walked down from the workout area back to where Kensi and Deeks sat at their desks, filling out paperwork.

"One game," argued Callen. "You beat me at basketball one time. That makes you champion of the afternoon." Sam laughed.

Kensi and Deeks watched Sam and Callen banter back and forth with amused grins. The team was still exhausted from their last case—putting away an entire ring of military arms dealers was rewarding but it had taken its toll on the team both mentally and physically. Sam and Callen decided to take a break from writing up their reports to play some basketball.

"It's cool, you know," Deeks chimed in. "I mean, I understand why you guys never ask me to play. It would be embarrassing for you guys to always lose to me. I got game." He sat in his chair, leaning back with his feet up on the desk.

"Kensi's your partner. You want to play ball, you ask Kens." Sam looked from Deeks to Kensi.

Kensi snorted. "No way. Deeks is a baby when he loses." Sam and Callen chuckled.

"Please," said Deeks. "Anytime you lose at anything you sulk and pout for days."

"He's got a point," Sam and Callen said in unison.

"Not true!" Kensi stood up, indignant. You all-" She was cut off by Eric's whistle. All the agents looked up at him, expecting him to direct them all up to Ops for a new case briefing.

"Deeks! Upstairs, 911!" Eric stood at the top of the Mission steps, frantic. He turned and ran back into Ops, not waiting to see if Deeks followed.

Deeks looked at the rest of the team, puzzled, springing into action. His long legs broke into a light sprint as he hustled up to Ops.

Kensi, Callen, and Sam exchanged a confused glance before all following Deeks up the stairs.

"Eric, what the hell?" Deeks asked as he entered the room.

"Phone call," answered Eric. "A man called saying he had an urgent message for you, and that a woman is in danger. He'll only speak to you." Eric typed something into his tablet and a man appeared on the large Ops screen.

"Detective Martin Deeks," sneered an overly large, muscled man with a shaved head. A tarantula tattoo covered most of his brawny neck.

"What's this, Harley?" asked Deeks. "You miss me? You just want to see my sun-kissed face? Since when are inmates allowed to make video calls?"

Harley chuckled. "I'm out, dick. No thanks to you. Your personal testimony did earn me a life sentence, but don't worry. Harley knows how to play the game. I made some deals with some prosecutors and now I'm free as a bird. As nice as it is to catch up, this is a business call."

"I have no business with you. Why are you calling me?" Deeks said, frustrated. He folded his arms against his chest, leaning back on the Ops desk. Kensi looked at Deeks. She could see he was tense.

Harley smiled. "The business is, of course, making you pay for what you did. You betrayed me, and now you have to pay. You infiltrated my brotherhood, you made us believe you were one of us. We treated you like a member of our family. But you were a cop, and you played us. Your games cost me and my brothers. And now they are going to cost you."

"Really?" asked Deeks. He smiled, a cocky smirk on his lips. "Like you said, I handled you BY MYSELF and now you're threatening me in front of my entire NCIS team. Threatening a police officer is more than enough to undo any deals you made, and federal agents make very credible witness. Plus, I'm sure Eric is recording and tracing this phone call." Deeks glanced over as Eric gave him the thumbs-up sign.

"I'm not threatening you," Harley smiled. "Killing you would be so easy, and what's the fun in that. Besides, you're kind of a masochist. A masochist with a hero complex. So, I think the way to make you suffer is to make you watch someone else suffer."

Deeks stomach dropped. Callen, Sam, and Kensi all looked at Deeks, alarmed. Harley stepped out of view of the webcam. Only an empty, windowless room could be seen. Deeks exhaled sharply.

"Do you think he grabbed a girl?" asked Kensi. Kensi didn't want to admit it, but the easiest way to make Deeks suffer was to hurt someone else. He was too brave and strong, and self-sacrificing, and yes, perhaps even masochistic to be too concerned with his own well-being. Grabbing an innocent girl, on the other hand, would kill him. It would destroy him to know someone else was hurt as a result of things he did.

"Oh yeah," said Sam, his dark features furrowed and his jaw set. "He wouldn't make a call like this without being able to show force."

"He's enjoying himself," Callen added. "He looks like the cat who ate the canary. He looks really excited about something. He knows if he called us without a hostage we would just find him and pick him up. He wouldn't risk going back to jail without having acted on his plan. And he knows we wouldn't take him so seriously if he didn't have a hostage."

"The call is still connected." Eric said. "I won't hang up." The agents all looked to the screen. Muffled noises and shuffling could be heard in the background. The camera showed only a small, windowless room.

"Harley!" Deeks shouted, frustrated. Deeks put both his hands on the Ops table to support himself. "Fucking hell," he muttered under his breath.

"Keep calm, Deeks," Kensi murmured. "Don't let him bait you. We need to keep cool and figure this out." Kensi tried to calm Deeks, but she knew it was futile. She knew how deeply her partner's cases affected him, and how deeply he felt the pain of victims he encountered.

Harley reappeared on the screen, still smiling. "Boys, bring her in." Two men dressed in black combat pants, black t-shirts, and black ski masks covering their faces entered the room dragging a petite woman between them. The woman's hands were tied behind her back and a cloth bag covered her head. She wore a long-sleeve white t-shirt and a denim mini skirt. The men tossed the girl to Harley, she stumbled, and he grabbed her roughly by the arms.

"Let her go," Deeks said. His voice was calm, but Kensi could see he was shaken. It was one of the qualities she most admired in Deeks—he always showed calm in difficult situations, even when he was freaking out inside. "She doesn't have anything to do with this. If you want to make me suffer, come and get me."

Harley chuckled. "See, I know you well, Deeks! You are so chivalrous, you'd hand yourself over to save some stranger. I reiterate, I'm going to make you suffer by making you watch her suffer. She and I are going to have all kinds of fun together. And the whole time we're hanging out, I want you to keep in mind this is happening because you're a rat and traitor." He put his hand on the girl's stomach, and ran it slowly up and down her body. The agents noticed her tense up and shudder at the unwelcome contact.

Callen cleared his throat. "Harley, can you hear me? This is Special Agent Callen here."

"Yes."said Harley. "Go ahead, _Special Agent_ Callen." He spit out 'special agent' like it was a dirty word.

"Listen, I know you're pissed at Deeks. Who wouldn't be? Trust me, even cops don't like Deeks. His undercover games have burned a lot of good men."

"Too true, " said Harley. "Go on."

"Look, obviously the prosecutors didn't think you were as bad as Deeks said you were. They wouldn't have made any deals with you if they did. Deeks has a tendency to talk a lot of shit. Obviously the evidence didn't back up his story. You got out of jail! So, I'm proposing you let the girl home so we can all call it a day. You see, kidnapping is a felony. You'd be doing another life sentence. You let her go and we can chalk this up to a misunderstanding. You can keep your freedom, as long as she comes back to us completely unharmed," Callen reasoned.

"Thanks," said Harley. But I know how that would end. "I hand over the girl and you still arrest me. What I've got planned is going to be so much more fun. For me. And for Detective Deeks." He twisted the girls arm. She let out a whimper. "Oh, and Detective Deeks, this girl is not some random girl."

The screen went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Wow, touched by all the positive reviews! Hope you like this update :)**

**Author's note: A number of you have asked if this will be Kensi/Deeks romance. The answer is yes, but it will be a slow build (but hopefully worth the wait!).**

"He ended the call." Eric said. "I'm trying to a trace and a location, but it's a heavily encrypted sat phone. It might not be possible.'

"Deeks?" Kensi looked at him cautiously.

Deeks looked up. His team was staring at him in concern. "I'm fine," he said weakly. "We need to find this girl before her hurts her."

"This isn't your fault," Kensi said softly.

Deeks snorted in response.

"She's right, Deeks." Sam chimed in. "You didn't let him out of prison, and you had no idea he was going to grab a girl."

"Yeah, maybe not." Deeks responded. "But I infiltrated a neo-Nazi militant group, and now some girl is going to pay the price."

Callen looked at Deeks. He felt for the young Detective. They'd all seen civilians taken as collateral damage and it's not something any of them could stomach. As agents they know their lives are in danger; innocents should not enter the equation. "We'll find the girl, Deeks. Tell us about your Op."

"Two years ago, LAPD suspected a neo-Nazi group, the New Brotherhood, of a variety of criminal activities. They were basically involved in any game they could get in on. Arms dealing, drugs, gambling, prostitution rings, MMA street fighting and the list goes on. They needed the money to fund their terrorist plans."

"Terrorism?" Kensi asked. "I thought Aryan brotherhoods were at least pro-America?"

"Hate crimes," replied Sam. "They bomb black or Latino hangouts, gay bars, synagogues, Muslim temples and the like."

"Exactly," said Deeks. "What do you think he meant by the girl isn't random?" It was like Deeks finally absorbed that last line.

"We don't know, Deeks," answered Callen. "Maybe a female LAPD officer involved in the case? Girlfriend of a neo-Nazi who was nice to you?"

"Or," Kensi began, her cheeks reddening. "Someone you've been dating. Don't you have that new yoga bunny, Stephanie?" The jealousy Kensi showed when she uttered those words did not go unnoticed by Sam and Callen. In a different situation, they would be mocking her right now.

"The height and build were wrong for her." Deeks answered blankly.

"Eric and Nell are looking for location. We can't do anything without that. Keep filling us in on your case," Callen ordered.

"Right," said Deeks. "This group was involved in all kinds of bad stuff, but we were having trouble catching them at anything. Evidence would disappear, witnesses recanted stories. It looked they had some people on the inside. Dirty cops, dirty prosecutors. We couldn't be sure. So I was sent in. I posed as Owen Fuller. I approached them by buying some coke a few times off one of their low-level dealers. I talked about how sympathetic I was to the cause, next thing you know I'm being invited to meetings and asked to help out."

"What do you mean, 'help out'?" asked Kensi.

Deeks ignored her. He was ashamed of a lot of the things he did on that mission. Owen Fuller was a bad person, and an alias that Deeks had never missed. "I was in pretty deep, working with them for almost a year. Anyway, it was a huge bust. We took down some pretty bad dudes—drug dealers and arms dealers and human traffickers all in one night. It pretty much ended the New Brotherhood. I arrested all their top leaders, but not until I was sure I had gathered enough intel and evidence to get them all life sentences."

Deeks swallowed. "And now, for my efforts, some woman is going to be brutalized by Harley Morgan. He's a mean son-of-a-bitch and really likes watching people suffer. He was never really into blowing things up—he liked taking hostages and torturing them. He was involved in turning underage girls into prostitutes, and believe me he beat the shit out of a number of young women. We need to find this girl."

"Uh, guys." Nell entered the room. "I was working downstairs in the control room and a package came for Deeks." She held a manila envelope in her hands.

Deeks reached out to grab the package. "Whoa, whoa." Eric grabbed his arm. "Gloves, please. I'm going to check for prints so don't smudge anything." Kensi felt her concern for her partner grow. Even in the toughest of situations, Deeks was never careless. This must really be getting to him.

"Sorry," Deeks said. He put on his gloves and opened the package. Hundreds of photographs came pouring out.

"They've been watching you, partner." Kensi looked at Deeks with concern. There were photos of him in his apartment, at the beach, at the gym, and in various bars and coffee shops. "These go back a while. You're wearing a different outfit in almost every photo."

"Dammit," said Deeks. "Some cop I am. I can't believe I didn't notice the tail."

"Doesn't say much for me either." Kensi added. "It's my job to watch your back."

"Maybe these are clues to help us find the girl." Sam mused.

"No, I'm alone in every single one," Deeks pointed out. "They just want me to know they are one step ahead of me. Harley's trying to make me feel outdone. Anything on that phone, Eric?"

"No," said Eric. "This is state-of-the-art NASA stuff. It's actually better than the phones we use." Eric flinched a little as Deeks cursed under his breath. "However, I did run analysis on the background noise. They are in a factory no less than 1 mile from the beach."

"How did you figure that?" asked Kensi.

"Volume of the beach noise. Even the highest res cam sound systems couldn't pick up the sound of the water so clearly more than 1-mile from the beach. And the tinny frequency in the background tells me the walls are steel. Anything with steel walls that close to the beach is a factory."

"It's start," sighed Callen. "Good work, Eric. Now start compiling a list of abandoned waterfront factories in the greater Los Angeles area."

"That could be hundreds of warehouses." Nell said.

"Well, then I guess you better help him," answered Callen. "This is the only lead we have."

A loud ringing sound filled the Ops centre.

"It's him." said Eric. He typed onto his tablet and Harley's face once again appeared on the screen.

"Harley." Deeks answered, his jaw clenched.

"Hey pal," answered Harley. "I was going to let you sweat it out, but someone here was so anxious to say hello." The camera moved from Harley's face to the captive woman, cloth bag still covering her face.

The agents all froze, unsure of where Harley was going with this. They knew that whatever he was planning, they couldn't stop him until they knew where she was.

Harley walked over to the trembling woman. He ran his hands over her body. "I can see why you like her, Deeks. She's so soft and so pretty." The agents could hear the woman was crying. "Time to say hello to Deeks. Give him your best smile." Harley lifted the cloth bag over the head, to reveal a young, beautiful woman. The woman looked at the camera. Tears ran down her face. Her eyes were bloodshot. Her lip was bloody, and a dark bruise was forming on her cheek. The team looked at Deeks, to see if he recognized her. It was immediately clear that he did. He looked frozen, pain stricken.

"Karen," he gasped. He put his hands on the Ops table to steady himself. He was visibly shaking. Callen and Sam looked at Kensi to see if she knew her. They know that Kensi and Deeks hang out a lot after work. Kensi shrugged, not recognizing the girl.

"Karen," Deeks said again. "Karen, listen to me. I am going to find you, I promise. Everything is going to be okay. You hang in there, and I promise I am going to get you out of there. You're going to be okay." Kensi looked at Deeks in admiration. He was obviously distraught, but he was able to put forth that calm and commanding voice to reassure her. It was part of what made Deeks such a good detective.

"I said," intoned Harley. "It's time to say hi to Deeks."

"M..m..m..marty?" Karen said hesitantly. The video feed was not two ways—she could not actually see Deeks. "Is that really you?"

"It's me, kiddo." Deeks said softly.

"What's going on? Where am I? Who are these guys?" Karen choked out these questions in between sobs.

"Don't be sad, sugar," drawled Harley. "You and I are going to have sooo much fun together." He knelt down beside her and stroked her hair. 'You're such a pretty girl."

"Harley," Deeks said heatedly. "I swear to you, if you harm her, I am going to find you. And I am going to make you suffer. I am going to hunt you down and kill you. Very, very slowly."

Harley snorted. "Big words, Deeks. I've got the girl. You have no idea where we are."

"I'm going to find you," warned Deeks. "Look, you want your revenge on me. Be a man about it. You're supposed to be some badass Nazi. You're big revenge plan involves taking on a 110-pound girl? Take me instead. I'm a cop—LAPD. I'm the one who put you away. Torturing me-doesn't that do so much more for you and your rep?"

Harley laughed. "Nice try, detective. We've been over this. I know you'd be more than happy to atone for your sins. What will hurt you is watching this young, innocent, girl suffer at my hands, in your place."

"Marty!" Karen called out, still crying. "Don't come here. It's a trap! They know you'll find me. They're counting on it. They're going to kill you!"

"Nasty bitch!" swore Harley. He walked over to where Karen stood, her arms still tied behind her back. He raised his arm and slapped her hard, across the face. She fell to the floor as Deeks cried out. The camera faded to black.

"Call's ended." Eric said softly, stating the obvious.

"So the girl's not random," Callen observed. "Who is she Deeks? What's going on?" It was obvious to all the agents that Deeks knew the girl on a personal level.

Deeks stood frozen, his hand still on the Ops table. He looked like he was in shock. Kensi approached him, gently laying her hand on his back. "Talk to us Deeks, who is Karen?"

Deeks turned and stormed out of the room. Kensi went to follow him but Sam was fasther. Sam exited the Ops room just in time to seek Deeks start punching the brick wall outside the Ops centre. Sam grabbed his arm. "Deeks, I know you're upset and I don't blame you. Punishing the wall is only going to break your hand. When I was overseas as a SEAL, I saw some really awful things. Women and children tortured by psychopaths. It makes you want to come apart, but that doesn't help save anyone. Focus Deeks, so we can find this girl." Deeks took a few deep breaths and walked back into Ops.

"Her name is Karen Cassidy," Deeks said, his voice shaky. "Eric, find out where she last was." Eric typed the name into his search field. "New York driver's license," Deeks added.

"I've got 74 Karen Cassidy's," Eric said. "Narrow it down for me."

"Born in 1986. Lives in Manhattan," Deeks answered.

"Okay, got her," said Eric. "Is she in New York or LA?"

"New York," answered Deeks. "She lives in Manhattan. She is, or was, supposed to be coming to LA for work next Saturday. This can't be happening. And it kills the warehouse lead. That warehouse could be anywhere."

"So they grabbed her in New York?" asked Callen. "That's a long way to go."

"Yeah," agreed Deeks. "Check her on flight manifests. Maybe she came to LA early. The New Brotherhood doesn't have any connections to New York. Check her credit cards. If we can figure out where she's been, we can figure out where she was grabbed. If we're lucky, we can find some security cam footage." He exhaled shakily. He ran his fingers through his shaggy mane. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Who is she Deeks?" Kensi asked.

"Karen Cassidy." Deeks answered.

"I heard that," responded Kensi gently. "New York resident, born in '86. What I mean is, who is she to you?"

Deeks sighed. The rest of the team watched him with concern and curiosity. "I…I don't have any family. But if someone went digging through my past to find some, they'd find her and her brother. They are the closest thing I have. Her brother's been my best friend since college. Karen is his little sister. He raised her after their parents were killed. I helped him when I could. When he first joined LAPD he worked a lot of nights. I was in law school at the time. I'd check on her and help her with her homework." Deeks voice was still shaking.

"Brother?" asked Sam. "We should find him. He could be in danger too."

"Yeah," said Deeks. "Call Langley. He's a Fed now. An undercover one. Way too capable to be grabbed by Harley, but we should tell Brian to watch his back. God, how am I ever going to explain this to him. How do you tell your best friend his baby sister was kidnapped for torture because of a job I did?" The team all looked at him in sympathy.

"I'll make the calls right away," Nell said.

"Anyway," Deeks continued. "Karen's a soft target. And a pretty girl. You saw Harley, he's obviously got things in mind for her." Deeks choked out those last words in disgust.

Kensi walked over to Deeks and put her arm around his shoulder. "Deeks, this is not your fault. It's awful, but we are going to find her." Kensi swore in heart at that moment that she would do everything to find this girl. Kensi would always do anything to find a kidnapped victim, but she would give everything she had on this case because she knew how much it meant to Deeks.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for all the positive feedback. Reviews are love :-)**

**WARNING: GRAPHIC VIOLENCE (not too explicit)**

"Guys, update." Eric interrupted. "Karen did indeed come to LA early. She flew in yesterday morning."

"That doesn't make sense," murmured Deeks. "Why would she tell me she was coming next week.?"

"Well, she was," said Eric. "Her flight booking shows it was originally booked for next week, and that she changed it last minute to come in yesterday."

"Maybe one of Harley's guys said something to her to get her here," suggested Sam.

"Maybe," said Deeks. "Could just be a coincidence. She's coming for three months for work. Maybe something came up so she came early. She was going to be staying at Wind Sand Condos in Malibu. See if she checked in."

Eric typed a few keys. "Nope. She never checked in. I'm going to see if I can get her coming out of LAX. Maybe we can follow her with traffic cams."

"I can't believe this," Deeks said again. "He better not hurt her." He slammed his hand on the Ops table.

"Deeks," Callen said. "I'm in charge while Hetty is away. And we are going to devote our entire team to working this case 24/7 until we find her."

"Thanks," Deeks said weakly. "Please don't turn it over to LAPD."

"Technically I should," Callen answered. "This case has no military or NCIS ties. But I won't, because hurting the family of one of us makes this personal for the entire team. And I know when Hetty returns she'll agree.'

The rest of the team exchanged looks. They were very optimistic that they could get Karen back before Harley killed her, but they knew she would not be unharmed. Harley wanted Deeks to suffer, and he was going to take out his anger towards Deeks on Karen.

The phone rang through the Ops centre again. Eric put the call on the big screen. This time, however, instead of seeing Harely, they saw Karen tied up on the floor. A black eye was developing under the skin, presumably from Harley slapping her. She appeared to be alone, and was looking around the room.

"Karen," Deeks called out. "Can you hear me, sweetie?" Karen didn't flinch.

"Nope, she can't hear you," Harley's voice filled the room. "How you hanging in there, Deeks?"

"Please let her go."Deeks answered calmly. "You can have whatever else you want. I'll do anything." The rest of team looked up at Deeks in alarm. They'd never heard that kind of desperation in his voice.

"Good boy!" cheered Harley. "You will do whatever I say, but not yet. This little lady and I are just starting to get acquainted."

Harley entered the room where Karen was being held, the camera following him. "Hey princess," cooed Harley, stroking her cheek.

"Fuck you," spat out Karen.

"Soon," smirked Harley. Karen paled a little, but she didn't respond. "We're going to put a show on for Detective Deeks. He's going to watch you come undone in every way possible."

"You're obviously running this show," admitted Karen. "I can't stop you from doing anything to me, but Marty is going to find me and then he's going to kill you. And if he doesn't, my brother will."

Harley turned to the door, "Ok boys, go time!" The same two black clad men entered the room. "It's play time."

"Don't hurt her!" yelled Deeks.

"Deeks," Callen whispered. "Keep calm. He's going to hurt her worse if he likes the reaction he's getting from you." Deeks looked at Callen, stricken, but nodded in agreement. Kensi put her arms around him again. Normally she would not show this kind of affection in front of the rest of the team, but it broke her hear to see Deeks in pain.

The two men untied Karen's arms and legs. One of the men grabbed both her arms, and the other man grabbed both her legs. The held her down to the floor. Karen struggled against the men but they easily over powered her. The men laughed. "Gag her," ordered Harley. "We don't want to disturb the neighbours."

Kensi rubbed Deeks' back. She couldn't imagine what he was going through. She would never normally show this kind of affection in front of Callen and Sam but she knew Deeks was in pain. They watched as one of the men pulled a taser out of his pocket.

"Oh God," Deeks whispered.

Eric, Nell, Kensi, Callen, and Sam also shuddered. They didn't know this girl, but they knew what was about to happen to her. And no one deserved that kind of torment.

"Hold her still," commanded Harley. Karen continued to struggle. "Give me one of her legs." Her denim mini-skirt left most of her legs completely bare. One of the men handed one of her ankles to Harley, while holding onto the other himself. "Ready, sweetie?" asked Harley. He held the taser up and pushed the taser's button a few times, chuckling as Karen's eyes widened at the sight and sound of the electric shock.

He ran the taser up and down her thigh, slowly teasing her. He wanted her completely on edge before he pushed that button on her skin.

"Please, no." Deeks whispered. Then he heard the unmistakable zap of the taser and Karen's painfilled screams through her gag. He watched her writhe on the floor in shock and pain, while the three brutes laughed. He truly understood what it was to hate a man in that moment.

"You like that?" Harley asked Karen. Karen was gasping, trying to catch her breath. "Where do you want it now?" Her eyes watered up and tears rolled down her cheeks. She couldn't speak due to the gag, but her eyes were pleading.

"Okay, lift up her shirt. I want to leave a taser burn on her sexy abs." One of the men slid her shirt up, revealing a smooth, flat stomach. Karen was tensing and clenching her stomach, obviously terrified of what was to come. She was openly crying now. "This is going to hurt, sugar," warned Harley. "Skin on the stomach is so much more sensitive, oh, and I turned up the volume a bit."

Deeks was shaking now, and Kensi pretended not to notice the tears pooling in his eyes. She knows how much Deeks hates seeing anyone hurt. She couldn't imagine how much worse he must feel seeing a girl he cared about being hurt, because of a case that he had worked. It wasn't his fault, but Kensi knew that Deeks was blaming himself. She also knew how dangerous that was, since that would mean Harley's plan was working.

Harley ran the taser lightly over Karen's stomach. The Ops team couldn't make out her words through the gag, but it sounded like she was begging. The taser went off again, the men again laughed. Karen was sobbing and screaming at the same time, and struggling against the men as they held her down.

"Mmmm." Harley looked at Karen. "You're so beautiful when you cry, and so beautiful when you scream. I'm so glad Detective Deeks has such a pretty little friend. You and I are going to have so much fun together."

"You've made your point," Deeks spoke up. "You can hurt her, and I can't stop you. You obviously know I care about her. What do you want? I will make sure you walk away from this with no jail time if you let her go."

"Shut up, Deeks," Harley snapped. "Karen and I are playing." He waved the taser at the camera and showed the Ops team that the taser was now at full volume. He pointed the taser at Karen's neck and fired. He turned the camera so Deeks couldn't see what happened. However, Deeks didn't hear any screaming. That meant she passed out from the pain.

"Shit boss," one of the masked men said. "That knocked her right out." The three men laughed and the camera went black.

"It's been 6 hours, and nothing." Deeks sat on the couch in the mission with his head in his hands. "No new leads, and no calls from Harley."

"Deeks, please." Kensi said quietly, sitting beside him on the couch. "You need to eat something, and you need to rest."

"I can't," Deeks answered, his voice cracking.

"Deeks," Callen added. "Keep your strength up. If you break down, Harley wins. If you keep it together, we find Karen and we win."

"I've looked out for her almost her whole life." Deeks said. "She trusts me. She looks at me to keep her safe. I protect her. And now I let this happen. I'll never forgive myself. I think I'm going to be sick to my stomach." Tears welled in his bright blue eyes. Kensi swallowed a lump in her throat. Deeks kept his sense of humour in the darkest of situations. It killed her to see him not even bothering to keep up the façade.

"Guys," Eric appeared at the top of the stairs. "I've got something."

The agents flew into the Ops room. "Go ahead, Eric," spoke Callen.

"I found her at LAX." A video appeared on the screen. It showed Karen walking through the airport with her baggage, wearing a white t-shirt and denim mini skirt. She exited the airport and got into a black limo. The license plates were in clear view of the camera."

"She's wearing the same clothes as on the video call. She was likely grabbed yesterday," Callen noted.

"She doesn't appear nervous or anything," Sam observed. "She has no idea anyone's looking for her."

"Ok, so I just hacked into the limo company's records. Looks like Karen hired a driver to take her two an office on Medina Boulevard," Eric announced.

"She's a writer," Deeks said. "Her publisher's office is on Medina."

"Ok," said Kensi. "So she went to a meeting at her publisher. Nell, call the publisher and find out what you can about the meeting."

"Right away," said Nell.

"Uh, guys," Eric interrupted. "According the limo company's records, Karen never met her limo driver at the airport. And the car that was supposed to pick her up has different plates than the limo she got into."

"That's how they got her," Deeks said softly. "She got into a car thinking it was her limo, but it was one of Harley's goons."

"Yeah," said Nell. "According to her publisher, they weren't expecting Karen until next week."  
>"Karen's personal email shows a meeting request for yesterday from her publisher," Eric added.<p>

"Someone must have sent her a fake request," Callen surmised. "It's a solid plan. Lure her to Los Angeles early and grab her. It buys them a few days to get her to the warehouse and contact Deeks. If Deeks and her publisher weren't expecting her until Saturday, then no one would go looking for her until then."

"Smart plan," observed Sam. "But we'll get them. Every one screws up somehow."

"Guys it's another call." Eric said urgently. Harley's face appeared again on the Ops screen.

Knowing Harley couldn't see them, Kensi took Deeks hand in hers and gave it a small squeeze. Deeks didn't respond, but he looked at her gratefully. Callen and Sam exchanged glances, but didn't say anything about the intimate gesture.

"Heya Deeks!" Harley cheered.

"Harley," Deeks respond tensely.

"Thought you'd want to say goodnight to your friend." The camera showed Karen on the floor, unmoving. Her clothes were torn and tattered, and new bruises where forming on her arms and legs.

"Karen," Deeks said gently. "Can you hear me?"  
>"Princess is sleeping," Harley answered.<p>

"How do you we know she's alive?" Callen asked. Deeks closed his eyes. Kensi squeezed his hand again.

"Fair question," sneered Harley. He walked over to Karen and grabbed her by the hair. He pulled her up by her hair and position her face so it was in direct view of the camera. "Ok, let's wake you up princess." Harley said menacingly. He placed both his hands around her throat and squeezed. Karen started coughing and gasping for air. She opened her eyes. Harley let go of her and she fell to the floor

"Karen!" Deeks called again.

"Marty," Karen answered weakly. "Get me out of here, please." Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I want to go home."

"I know, sweetie, I know," Deeks answered. "I'm going to find you. You just stay strong. Everything will be okay." The screen faded to black again.

"Dammit!" shouted Deeks.

"Deeks," Kensi began. "She's going to be okay because we are going to find her soon. She looks like a tough girl."

"Yeah," sighed Deeks. "She's a survivor. But she's just a girl. I mean, you know, a normal girl."

"Hey!" Kensi said indignantly. "I'm just a girl! And what do you mean 'just a girl?' " She knew Deeks was not in a good frame of mind, but she couldn't hide her annoyance at the comment. She'd spent too much of her career proving she wasn't "just a girl" and Deeks of all people understood that.

"Well," said Deeks., "You're not a normal girl. Most gilrs in their twenties aren't trained sharpshooters or weapons experts. Not a lot of girls are experts in close quarter combat or advanced martial arts." His voice laced with sarcasm and annoyance.

"Fair enough," replied Kensi, trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. She knew Deeks was angry and scared, but his comment stung.

Deeks looked at Kensi's hurt expression, cursing himself. He knew Kensi was doing everything she could to help, and he didn't mean to take his frustration on her. "Sorry," replied Deeks quietly. "You are not just a girl. You're more like a ninja assassin. When I say she's just a girl, I mean she's a civilian. She's not as courageous or as badass as you. I'd say you're Wonder Woman and she's Lois Lane."

"Wait," said Callen. "Please tell me that doesn't make you Superman." He was teasing Deeks gently, knowing that humour might help Deeks calm down and focus.

"Nope," answered Deeks. "I've always figured myself more like Peter Parker. That makes me Spider Man."

Sam snorted, recognizing what Callen was doing. "If you were a superhero, you'd be an insect. I buy that."

"Who does that make Sam?" smirked Callen.

"Oh I'm Batman." Sam said with a straight face.

"Uh, I think you mean Robin, you know, the boy wonder." Callen replied. "I'm Batman."  
>"You wish G," retorted Sam. "I'm Batman. I think we all know you're perfectly comfortable as my sidekick."<p>

Deeks smiled weakly. "Ok, what do we know? Let's go through our leads again."


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews and messages :-) If you like the update, please review.**

**I don't own NCIS: LA or any of its characters.**

Kensi sat slumped over her desk, sound asleep. Sam sat upright in his desk chair, eyes closed. Deeks was standing by the window, looking out, his hair more dishevelled and his face scruffier than usual. Callen was upstairs in Ops with Eric and Nell.

All of a sudden, Callen rand down the stairs. "Guys," he shouted. "Eric found the warehouse!"

Deeks immediately snapped into action. "Where? How?"

"We put together a list of abandoned warehouse properties meeting our parameters. About 200 warehouses came up. Nell ran a vector with the New Brotherhoods' finances. Only one warehouse came up with ties to their organization. It looks like they used it as a meeting place."

Deeks eyes lit up. "I know the place. They used it for meetings and storage. It's down in Venice."

"Yeah," said Eric. "That's the place. Address is on your phones."

"Let's go," Kensi said. Everyone got up. "We need gear though." The Ops team followed her into the weapons room, where they suited up in their vests and rifles.

"Let's move," said Deeks. The team followed him outside and into their cars. The drove through the city at top speed, Kensi with Deeks and Sam with Callen. They arrived at the warehouse in less than 20 minutes.

"Ok," said Callen. "We need a plan."

"A plan!" exclaimed Deeks. "The plan is to get her out, that's the plan. I mean, as far as plans go, this is actually pretty straightforward." Kensi couldn't help but smile. Deeks was starting to sound like himself.

"Deeks," warned Callen. "We need to do this smart. To ensure the survival of all of us, especially Karen."

"We go in hot," said Sam. "And they take us out and she's still in there with those men. We do this smart or we don't go in."

"I'm sorry," said Kensi. "Are we just going to ignore the fact that this is a trap for Deeks? Karen said that they were planning to kill Deeks when he showed up."

Deeks glared at her. "I can take care of myself. I took on Harley's entire gang by myself, with very little help from the LAPD. I think I can handle a couple of guys in a warehouse."

"What's that supposed to mean? You're saying you want to do this on your own?" Kensi glared back at Deeks.

"No I'm saying I don't need you second guessing me. You're supposed to be my partner."

"Exactly!" Kensi shouted. "I'm supposed to watch your back. I'm not going to let you walk into a trap and watch you be killed!" She tried to control her voice but her frustration was mounting. Deeks always protected everyone else but gave little regard for his own safety. She supposed it was part of what made him a good cop, but she really didn't like the idea of watching another partner die.

"He hurt my friend," retorted Deeks. "For me. He grabbed my friend and is torturing her to get back at me. I owe it to her to get her out there, at any cost."

"Not at any cost," whispered Kensi.

"I am an LAPD Police Officer," Deeks said. "It's my job to oh, I don't know, 'serve and protect.' You must know that little saying. I took an oath. Even if she were a stranger, it is my job to save her at risk to myself."

"Enough," said Sam. "We get the girl out, then you two can ask Nate for some marriage counselling."

"Kensi, bird's eye view. Deeks and I go in through the front, Sam take the back. Eric, turn the comms on." Callen ordered, snapping into leader mode. The team nodded in agreement. Kensi ran over to a trailer by the warehouse. She positioned her rifle and scope, ready to take out anyone who entered or exited the warehouse. To take out anyone who threatened her team. Sam drew his weapon and ran around to the back exit.

"Deeks," Callen warned. "Be smart. If you let your emotions get to you, we could all get hurt. I'm trusting you to keep your cool and do this right. Don't make me regret it." Deeks nodded solemnly.

Deeks and Callen entered the warehouse. Callen signalled for Deeks to go left, while he searched right. They cautiously crept through the large, seemingly abandoned warehouse, weapons drawn. There was no sign of anyone in the warehouse.

"Uh guys," the team all heard Sam's voice through their earwigs. "Bomb."

Deeks and Callen rushed to find Sam at the back of the warehouse. Sure enough, a large wired bomb was ticking, the numbers on the display counting backwards from 15 minutes.

"Shit!" exclaimed Callen. "Kensi, stay where you are. Don't let anyone in or out of the warehouse. Eric, send a bomb squad."

The three men turned as they heard muffled screaming. "Karen!" Deeks cried out. "Where are you?"

"Over there," Callen motioned, pointing at what looked like a broom cupboard with a padlock on the outside. "Sam, better get busy. Eric, cancel the bomb squad. We don't have time."

"All in a day's work," sighed Sam. He rolled up his sleeves and got to work on diffusing the bomb. "Fourteen minutes."

Deeks pounded on the cupboard door. "Karen, are you in there?" He could hear muffled crying. "Stand back, I'm going to kick the door down." He took a step back and in one swift movement kicked down the door with his long leg. He burst in the room, to find Karen tied up on the floor, gag in her mouth. He raced to her side, she curled up in a ball. "Karen it's me. It's me, Marty. I'm going to get you out of here." With a bomb literally ticking, he did not have time to untie her. He slid his hands under her knees and on her back, picked her up and carried her out of the warehouse, running back to where the agents had left their cars.

"12 minutes," warned Callen.

"I got this G," Sam answered, never moving his eyes or hand from the bomb.

"Guys, just get out of there." Kensi said.

"No," answered Callen. "We don't know how powerful this thing is. If it goes off it could reach the waterfront, civilians could get hurt. Come on big, guy, you can do this."

Deeks opened the door to Kensi's Cadillac and helped Karen into the back seat. He gently removed the duct tape and gag from Karen's mouth. He pulled out a pocket knife to cut the rope that bound her hands. She flinched as he moved the knife towards her. Deeks felt fresh rage course through his body—what had they done to her to make her afraid of the knife?

"She's okay, Deeks. She's just in shock. But she's fine." Deeks heard Kensi through the comms. He smiled. As much as they enjoyed teasing each other, when it mattered, he and Kensi were always there for each other. She had been his lifeline when he got shot, and when he put Ray in Witness Protection. It always blew his mind that she could always tell exactly what he was thinking. He realized Kensi had moved from her spot where she had guarded the warehouse door, and was now guarding him and Karen.

"Where are you hurt?" Deeks asked Karen. She didn't answer, and started crying harder. Deeks pulled her gently into his arms. "It's okay," he whispered. "You're safe now and I'm not going to let those men hurt you anymore." He stroked her hair. It broke his hear to see a girl he cared about so much so frightened.

"Guys!" Eric exclaimed. "We've only got 6 minutes."

"I'm almost done," Sam said, his voice tense. "I got this. Although G, you might want to consider heading for the hills. No sense in both of us exploding today if this doesn't turn out."

"No thanks," said Callen. "We stick together no matter what." He watched as Sam's large, skilful hands continued to disable wires. Sam smiled at him.

"Done!" Sam said triumphantly. "Another bullet dodged!" The entire NCIS team let out breaths of relief.

"Good job, Sam," smiled Callen. "Eric, send a crime lab team over here. We need to find these guys. They are still a threat to Karen and Deeks."

"Guys, I got to take Karen to the hospital," Deeks said. He was mentally assessing Karen's injuries, his feelings of shame and guilt replacing his earlier fear.

"Go," answered Callen. "Take Kensi with you. We don't know where Harley and his goons are. Make sure no one tails you."

Kensi walked down to where Deeks and Karen sat in the backseat of her car. She got into the driver's seat and turned around to face them. "Guys, I'm going to drive us to East General, it's the closest hospital." Deeks nodded in agreement. He sat in the back holding Karen as Kensi drove. Kensi watched the two of them in the rear view mirror. She wasn't used to seeing Deek's sensitive side. He usually put up a strong front, guarded by his humour and street smarts. She'd seen him comfort victims before, but this was different. He'd told her that Karen was like a part of his family, and she could see that from the way that he held her protectively. What Kensi couldn't understand, was why she felt a twinge of jealousy in her stomach.


End file.
